The Platinum Rule

We’ve all heard about the Golden Rule, but have you heard of the Platinum Rule?

At the Information Technology Alliance Conference I recently attended in Dallas, sales and leadership guru Ty Bennett was the keynote speaker (full disclosure, I chair the Keynote Committee). Ty described the platinum rule as “treat others as they wish to be treated.” Easy to say, harder to do. He provided an example of a simple way he applies the Platinum Rule at his company. He asks clients, “What is the best way to communicate with you? Phone, email or text?” How elegant.

From a client’s perspective, even if we provide the answer one would have expected, you feel that being asked the question matters. This reminded me of the following quote from the recently deceased Maya Angelou:

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”